The new occupants of the historic graffiti-covered mansion at 190 Bowery will “keep all of the building’s historic touches from its marble wash basins to the graffiti covering the lower part of the facade,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
A recently-formed, as-of-yet-unnamed consortium of agencies representing creative professionals has leased 30,000 square feet of office space on floors two through six, and they’re excited to move into a building with history and character, CEO Matthew Moneypenny told the WSJ.
“We’re a very visual company and all the employees are very visual people,” he said. “Companies like ours tend to thrive in places that have a soul and a history.”
A large part of the business’ clients are photographers, which Moneypenny says is fitting since the building used to belong to photographer Jay Maisel. Changing hands from an artist to a business that profits off artists is a very appropriate contemporary New York thing. Still, better it’s a creative industry-related business than just another retail chain (though there will be retail on the ground floor). It’s great that what’s special about the building will be preserved as much as possible. We’ll see if they keep their word.
Last month, ANIMAL gained entry to the landmark building after the Maisels moved out to document what it looked like before any new renovations are done.
(Photo: Bucky Turco/ANIMALNewYork)
